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Opinion: Editorials

Editorial: Snapshots from the nation's press

Posted:
04/10/2016 11:56:56 PM MDT

Bernie Sanders speaks during a campaign stop at the Pennsylvania AFL-CIO convention last week in Philadelphia. (Matt Rourke / AP)

Bernie's flub

More than anything else, Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) has based his campaign on attacking Wall Street — the millionaires and billionaires who, by his telling, wrecked the U.S. economy, dominate the political system and must be brought to heel. Given his commitment to the message, you might expect he would have some familiarity with the policy details and implications.

A New York Daily News editorial board interview with the candidate proved otherwise. The senator seemed to have no idea of what reformed banks should look like, or whether he would need new legislation, even though the government under his presidency would play a central role in tearing apart these complex financial institutions.

Mr. Sanders followed the interview with what was meant to be a clarifying statement. The treasury secretary would draw up a list of too-big-to-fail banks, Mr. Sanders explained, and break them up under the authority of the Dodd-Frank financial reform law. In an interview with us, Sanders policy adviser Warren Gunnels said that current regulators are not applying existing authorities aggressively enough and that Mr. Sanders would pick a strong treasury secretary with no Wall Street ties to fill in many of the details.

It's astonishing that, on this of all issues, the campaign would need to issue a what-the-candidate-meant-to-say statement. Even then, the campaign has left a lot of essential questions unanswered.

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Here's one: What is breaking up the banks meant to accomplish?

From what Mr. Sanders and his campaign have said, you could posit several possibilities: protecting taxpayers, safeguarding the financial system, making the financial sector less concentrated and reducing the financial sector's share of the total economy. Explaining that he wants to do all of these things is not sufficient, because policies differ depending on which goal you prioritize.

Many voters share Mr. Sanders's disdain for high finance and his nostalgia for an economy based more on manufacturing. But such prejudices, whether sound or not, provide an insufficient basis for remaking the world's largest economy. Former secretary of state Hillary Clinton has a banking-sector reform proposal designed to address the highest risks to the financial system that remain after the first round of reform. Mr. Sanders has yet to furnish anything of equivalent rigor. We hope he provides more clarity in this week's Democratic debate.

—Washington Post

Housing dilemma

Notice the terminology people use in talking about all the housing, particularly apartment buildings, going up in rapidly growing communities such as Salt Lake City.

Most of what's being built, planned and desired falls into one of two categories. It's either "market rate" — that is, the going price for rental units as set by the law of supply and demand — or "affordable" — that is, within reach of larger numbers of lower-income and working class families.

The fact that the "market" clearly isn't providing enough necessary things that real people can "afford" means a market is not functioning as markets should, providing basic goods for those who can't afford more even as it meets whatever demand there is for luxury alternatives.

Cities determine zoning, set building codes and design standards, issue permits and lay — and sometimes forgive — property taxes. How Salt Lake City turns each of those dials and flips each of those switches matters a lot in determining the future of the housing stock in the city.

Doing it right will take a constant, and nimble, assessment of options that nudge and cajole developers to open up the housing market in ways that do not sell out proper standards or torpedo existing neighborhoods.

That's the very definition of easier said than done. That's why it's good to see the City Council is so concerned about it, even if it hasn't come up with a simple answer.

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